Airship Exploratory Missions FAQ

First of all, I presume that Airship Exploratory Missions are the TYPE of duty, while The Diadem is the specific duty or place. It’s speculation but makes a bit of sense.

How do I unlock The Diadem? It’s not a quest in the usual sense. It’s unlocked by talking to the NPC Aurvael in the Pillars (X:14 Y:10).

This one gets asked a WHOLE LOT:

How do I get in & participate in Airship Exploratory Missions?

Anyone can join Exploratory Missions with an EASY or NORMAL difficulty rating.

Only HARD MODE is locked behind FC Airships.

Entering Easy or Normal requires a Mission Ceruleum Voucher.

Can be bought in Ishgard for cheap.

Entering Hard-mode requires a Tank of Mission Ceruleum.

Purchased with FC points.

Queuing up for Easy or Normal is via talking to NPC.

Queuing up for Hard has a few more pre-reqs.

All members must have Tank of Mission Ceruleum.

For every 8 people, at least one open FC Airship is needed.

The FC must have unlocked hard-mode via ‘Airship Ventures’.

Every FC Airship must be level 50, and some minimum stats.

Entering is done from the Company Workshop.

Queuing up as max of 8 from Ishgard, max of 24 from FC.

Most NPC-related actions can be done in Pillars (X:14 Y:10)~ish area. I’m pretty sure there are other non-important prereqs such as “Completing MSQ” and “Being level 60”, but the above list should cover most of it.

What’s the difference between difficulties? Well, it affects a whole lot of little things. But one of the main concerns right now can be answered with the below quote:

210 Mistbreak (aetherial) can be obtained in any difficulty!

After getting that often asked question out of the way – what’s the main differencees?

Entering as more than 8 is only possible in Hard.

Difficulty scales upward with enemy HP & overall Difficulty.

Difficulty RANK of enemies is generally increased.

Higher rank monsters: More chances for better chests.

The type of ceruleum you need if different (look at the above section).

The instance you’ll be in will always have other groups. (Unless you’re first?)

While you can get the best gear in easy or normal mode, going hard more will increase the GENERAL QUALITY of chests that spawn – and giving you more and better chances at a nicely rolled 210 mistbreak. But AFAIK you can find the “ultimate” piece of gear no matter which difficulty you’re in – it just generally takes longer.

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How to spawn star rank enemies? Honestly, I hate to discuss this as an “exact science”, but generally here’s the idea…

Killing enemies increases “bloodlust”. You get prompted when this happens.

After some time, an interact-able object “Fresh Tracks” Spawn.

Interact with it for a sure-spawn star rank enemy.

Personally, I’ve had more luck clearing one island at a time.

Care to chime in regarding other techniques of spawning these guys? Of all aspects of exploratory missions – this is the one I’m not so clear on

What’s the point of objectives? They don’t affect too much, but completing them yields bonus tomestones. I’m not quite sure what else you get from completing these. Once you complete 3, you’re done! Then freely spend the ne

What, DOL can get in on the mix, too? Yes. Miners, Botanists and Fishermen can contribute too. Gathering nodes has a chance to spawn chests! Nodes here have materials that are only seen in exploratory missions. YOU CAN ONLY SEE NODES AS THE CLASS, in case you forgot.

What’s the point? What are the rewards? Aside from powerful gear, you can also gain all sorts of stuff from participating in exploratory missions.

Useless gear can be turned in for: Brass Sky Pirate Spoils

DoL’s can rarely gather: Steel Sky Pirate Spoils

You can turn-in spoils for rewards.

Turn in NPC’s are within the mission and in Ishgard.

High rank materia is probably the best reward you can get right now.

Yes, you can get crafting/gathering materia.

Protips and Maximizing each lockout

go for the highest possible difficulty you can zone in to. It’s tough to swallow but the fact remains. Yes, entering hard is a bit of a hassle – use party finder or mission linkshells to do this!

Grouping up is infinitely better than going around with your group only. The faster stuff dies – the more chests spawn – the more star monsters appear. Actively go around helping other groups! Not only is it appreciated, it’s more value!

DoL’s are surprisingly good at getting chests, I’ve been pretty successful spawning a bunch of silver chests – I personally haven’t gotten gold yet from a node – please chime in on this. Each time you clear an area quickly switch to see if there are nodes that are safe to gather. Or you can try hunting for safe nodes all on your own!

Always go 1 tank 1 healer 6 DPS for as long as the encounters allow it. The bosses are quite simple but have a ton of HP – so any competent and geared healer/tank combo can easily manage alone.

Be courteous and follow the loot rules of your group. Don’t be that guy, please.

Expanding your social circle indirectly affects progress per time spent, not only in exploratory missions but any sort of content. It’s a worth it investment – more so in this case! You can use lodestone to search for linkshells, and probably reddit. It’s a good start!

Any tips you’d like to share? Comment! These are the only ones I could think of off the top of my head.